


NOT

by NekomuraTsukiyo



Series: I Am: [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Aged Down Characters, Aged up characters, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, M/M, Minho and Felix are half-brothers, Seungmin and Woojin are cousins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-09-22 05:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 6,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17053724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekomuraTsukiyo/pseuds/NekomuraTsukiyo
Summary: It all started from an accident, and 9 boys with their own problems united together.





	1. Curious about our world

**Author's Note:**

> This is kinda a whole series inspired by Stray Kids' I Am: ___, so while some events are from the MVs, others are not.  
> Also a test for rare ships lol

It's been a while since Bang Chan saw those weird things in the sky.

He wasn't sure what on earth that was. If he were to be completely honest, he had absolutely no idea what that was, actually.

He hadn't even noticed them until he was partnered with this edgy guy - Seo Changbin - for a project, where they had to make some sort of mini helicopter with a camera on it. Changbin made him test the device, only for him to hear a crash.

Chan frowned. That thing wasn't supposed to crash. He was testing it in an empty field. There shouldn't be any obstacles.

He headed to where it fell. He sighed upon seeing the helicopter on the floor, broken, decided that Changbin would probably sulk for a day or two - until he saw a broken piece of some sort of glass lying next to the broken helicopter.

_Where did this come from?_

Chan looked up, and to his surprise he saw some kind of hole in the sky. He wasn't sure if it's a hole, because the sky looked the same, except for the outline that matched the broken piece of glass perfectly, so maybe the helicopter crashed into that position and broke the glass.

But why was there _glass_ in the sky, anyways? The sky should be limitless.

Chan couldn't think of anyone whom he could ask about, except for Changbin, who seemed to know a lot more than he should

But all he got as answer was "this is not we should talk about".

~

So Chan headed to the library. He didn't have high expectations, really - teachers and career trainers always rejected his questions about topics outside his field of study, so he doubted the library would have any "unnecessary" books (the adults' words, not his).

"What do you want to look for?"

A boy's voice startled him. Chan looked at the boy - slightly taller than him, and looked a bit intimidating. The boy was typing something on his laptop, and Chan at least had the decency not to budge into other's business.

"Uh," Chan thought about how to reply, "Weird things in the sky."

"What?" The boy cocked his eyebrow. Not that Chan blamed him, because he knew nothing either.

"Look, I don't know what's that either, that's why I want to find if there's anything that I can look into."

"Hmm." The boy hummed, "How old are you?"

"Huh? Uh, eighteen."

"Then you are probably finding something the government doesn't want you to know."

"So...you aren't helping me?" Chan asked.

"Do I look I care about those losers?" The boy closed his laptop. "Of course I am helping you. Come with me. My name's Woojin, by the way. Kim Woojin."

"Mine's Bang Chan. So you are those...'traitors' they refer to?"

"Huh. It's their fault that so many people want to rebel against them." Woojin snorted and opened a door. "Inside are all I managed to find about the outside world."

"Outside...world? There's another world outside?"

"More accurately, we are just a tiny city in the world, but we're trapped inside this capsule-sort of thing."

"So that's why there's broken glass?" Chan asked. Woojin looked at him, wide-eyed.

"What glass?"

"Uh," Chan laughed nervously, "I accidentally crashed while testing my friend's model helicopter and a piece of glass broke from the sky. Just a wild guess."

"No, you're probably right about the glass. Does your friend know about that?"

"Well...I think he does. He told me that this ain't something we should talk about. He probably also knows more than he should."

"Bring me to your friend. No, actually, bring your friend here. We can talk then." 


	2. A Runaway

"I told you, we're not discussing anything about that here." Changbin frowned when he saw a suspicious looking Chan entering the room.

"No, of course...not here." Chan replied. Changbin cocked his eyebrow when Chan continued, "We can head to the library."

"Huh? Why?"

"Uhhh," Chan smacked his lips, "Like you said, we are not talking about it here."

"You win," Changbin sighed, standing up. "Alright then, we will head there and you are going to answer my questions on the way. Just answer me yes or no. One, did you meet someone?"

"Yes."

"Okay...you found what you want to know."

"Not yet."

"He promised you to tell you what's going on if I head there."

"Yes."

"Done. Enough questions right now. Let's continue later." Changbin said, ending the conversation.

~

"So you are his friend?" Woojin held out his hand when he saw Changbin, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Woojin."

Changbin stared at his hand for 2 seconds before he finally returned the handshake. "Seo Changbin. I think I heard your name somewhere. Is this place safe?"

"Yeah. I am the only library assisstant here for today, and I broke the CCTV. No one's gonna come today because they said they're too busy to fix it."

"Good." Changbin nodded in approval. "Alright, about what Chan hyung wanted to say."

"Right." Woojin took out a thick book out from a shelf and gave it to Chan. "Can you multi-task?"

"Yeah, I think." Chan nodded.

"Good. This book is an encyclopedia from the outside. Take a look. And Changbin, what do you know about our society?"

"Trying to produce human robots. Trapping us within this shitty city, believing that they can fool all of us." Changbin chimed, "But apparently not."

"Hmm. Half correct." Woojin hummed, "There's more than that. Chan, do you see anything?"

"These...what are these "natural phenomena"?" 

"These are also something that the society robbed away from us. We have everything we need - with the sacrifice of beautiful scenery and uncertainty."

"But wouldn't it be dangerous if there are uncertainties?"

Changbin shook his head solemnly, "You probably don't understand. You will never understand it either if you weren't curious about that piece of glass. Humans evolve because they learned to deal with the unknown and gained knowledge. Yes, they are damgerous, but they are extremely important."

Chan realized one thing - Changbin wasn't an introvert. He did not talk much because he was hiding such important secrets.

"So...what can we do about it?"

"Oh, Chan " Woojin smirked. Chan could see the playful but dangerous glimmer in his eyes, "There's a reason why they sometimes call us 'dirty runaways'."

"You mean..." Chan gasped, "We run away from here? How?"

"Only the three of us won't be enough. But I know some other people." Changbin said calmly. "Woojin hyung, do you perhaps have a secure communicating device? Any will do."


	3. Lee Minho

"Lixie, you won't believe what I did today." Minho threw his bag onto the floor and rushed into the bedroom, where Felix was reading a book.

"Huh? What did you do?" Felix asked.

~

Felix was his half-brother. While teenagers were forced to leave their parents at the age of 15, that's not the case for them. From what Minho found, his father accidentally had sex with an underground prostitute and had Felix. When Felix arrived as a newborn, only Minho's mother was present.

"Your dad and that loser woman was punished for their indecency," That's what Minho's mother had said.

Yet after 3 years, she still didn't want to have anything to do with Felix and wanted to throw him away.

"I am not leaving him behind. He's still my brother." Minho, at the age of 5, told his mother. She stared at him for a few seconds, went into his (and Felix's) room, and came out after 30 minutes with a large bag.

"Go away with him then."

Little Minho had nowhere to go. All he could do was to drag the bag, carry baby Felix on his back (lucky that Felix was like a koala - Minho didn't need to hold him), and knock on every door he saw.

"Mum! I like him - and his little brother is cute!" After countless of rejection, Minho finally found one house where another boy was present and his mum was nice enough to let him stay until 15.

The boy, Han Jisung, was still their friend.

But there's one thing 5-year-old Minho learned: Never trust the people in the society too much. They don't have any sympathy, and he observed Mr. and Mrs. Han long enough to decide that they let him and Felix say merely because they wanted to look good in the eyes of Jisung. 

Well - which was better than his mum, anyways.

~

"I told that asshole off for trusting that 'coach' blindly. That grandpa is always nosing around our works, but he was like 'oh sir you are gorgeous! We shouldn't write that!" and told me to change it as well. Pfft - he knows nothing about this world." 

"Most of them don't - wouldn't you be in trouble?" Felix asked. He also knew how fake this society was, thanks to Minho.

But being the child of infidelity, others were way more hostile to him than to Minho (Plus, people like Minho's face more). Felix was more cautious with his actions.

"Nah, that dumbass can't talk anything excpet heartless praises." Minho snorted, "Plus, if he  _do_  rat on us, I already have a backup plan."

"Hm? What is that?" Felix asked, curious, "Can Jisung be part of it too? Ain't gonna leave him in this stupid place."

"Lixie, they don't call us traitor runaways for a reason," Minho laughed, "It's funny how they are so scared of us but didn't even considering installing surveillance cameras in homes."

"Surveillance cameras in homes?" Felix questioned, "Where did you get that idea from?"

"Changbin have his ways to hack into the internet. Apparently the outside world have a huge ton of stories dedicated to societies like us," Minho shrugged, "Of course, we aren't supposed to know."

"Do you plan telling Jisung?"

"Not now, sweetie." Felix rolled his eyes at Minho's unnecessary pet name, "This ain't the right time."

"Alright then..." Felix closed his book, "I am tired of life in this place. I hope we can go away soon."

"It won't be long," Minho ruffled Felix's hair and kissed his forehead - he always did this whenever Felix felt depressed back then, and he still kept this habit after Felix had grown out from it - "Hyung promise you that we can escape from this meaningless life soon."


	4. Not afraid

"Did you hear that crash?" Felix asked Minho. 

"Of course I did. That's kind of why I enter your room suddenly," Minho replied and peeked out of the window - the only one in their apartment which was not blocked by other buildings, directing facing the empty fields.

"Lix, look out there."

Felix complied, and mumbled.

"There's a boy."

"Yeah. But that's not the point." Minho said, "You see that robot thing next to him?"

"Yes?"

"Do you see that shiny thing?"

Felix narrowed his eyes. "That's...I think it's a piece of glass."

"Look at the sky above it."

Minho could hear his half-brother gasping.

"Is that a hole?"

"I think so." Minho growled, "So  _that's_ why they never let us go to close to the fields. Because the glass capsule ends there and the fields are meant to serve as a buffer zone."

"What do we do now?" Felix asked. "Now that we know the glass break that easily?"

"They have a reason to call us 'runaways', Lix," Minho pulled a Cheshire grin, "But it's too risky for the only two of us. We need a whole team."

"But we only know Changbin. That only makes us three."

"I am sure this boy would get curious. From what I saw, he noticed the glass as well," Minho explained, "Sooner or later, he would end up as one of us."

"But we don't even know him," Felix said.

"Kmowing Changbin, he can probably dig into official files and we can identify that boy." Minho let out a dangerous chuckle, "Then we have four. Don't forget that we will explain this to Jisung, which makes five. Plus, I also saw someone suspicious in the library. Our forces would only expand."


	5. Not alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! I am updating this quite often recently, whoops  
> Anyways, I changed all the chapter titles to match the phrase "I am: __". How do you think?

"God - this freaking phone scared me," Felix complained. "Hyung, someone called."

"It's......not even an hour after the crash." Minho commented, picking up the phone nonetheless. "Who is it?"

"Hyung, you sound way too aggressive." Changbin said. Minho rolled his eyes, "Dude. You know why I am hostile. Every phone call freaks me out. So, why are you calling?"

"Don't act dumb. You live near the borders." Changbin said. "You must have heard the crash."

"So...You know that guy?"

"Yeah. I made that mini helicopter. I am still not too happy with the damage done on it, but I am more than delighted to find out something important to us."

"Hmm," Minho hummed. "So? You must have something in mind if you called."

"Bingo," Changbin sounded pleased in his tone, "Can you come to the library?"

"Huh?"

"We have allies."

"Let me guess. That boy who's dyed blond and always on his laptop," Minho sang, "Name tag reads Kim Woojin."

Silence.

"Is your friend a genius?" An umfamiliar voice - slightly accented (which, Minho noticed, sound awfully like Felix's accent) asked. Minho silently snickered at his remark.

"No. He's just observant and got too much time on his hands," Changbin replied to that guy who's probably half-Australian, then back to Minho, "If you already know his name, then I will let him have a word with you."

"Hello? This is Woojin." Another voice came out from the phone, "Changbin said you are an ally."

"More accurately, I started it." Minho retorted, "Not the point. So, I am heading to the library and we will discuss?"

"Changbin said you are not a genius, but you are still smart." Woojin said. "Yes, please, if you are convenient."

"Of course." Minho replied, "I will arrive within 10 minutes. I am taking my brother with me."


	6. Kim Seungmin

"Your cousin isn't here? Again?" Hyunjin exclaimed in disbelief. Seungmin shrugged.

"Yeah. He said he had things to do."

"Why is he so busy anyways?" Jeongin asked. He sounded more curious than disappointed. "I mean, he should be your parent substitute. Shouldn't he stay at home when you are here?"

"He's never the obedient type, remember?" Seungmin replied indifferently, "I don't want him to be right beside me all the time anyways. Besides, he said he will tell me what's going on his mind sooner or later."

_~_

Seungmin's parents died when he's six. Woojin's family, being the closest relative to Seungmin, adapted him.

Humans weren't suppposed to die before 60. Seungmin didn't know why that's the case, but he didn't care too much either. That is, until he saw Woojin's laptop one day, lifeless black letters read "Human Experiment Record - Failures and Analysis".

"What are you doing here?" Woojin asked, startling Seungmin. But Seungmin could tell Woojin wasn't angry at all, but he sounded nervous.

"Nothing. I just wanted to borrow your laptop."

"Did you see anything?"

"Not really." Seungmin paused, "I mean, a little. Just the title. What's that?"

"Seungmin, be a good person, okay? You are too young for that." Woojin didn't answer his question, "I will tell you once you're sixteen. That's just less than a year from now, so be patient."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

~

And his birthday was today. Woojin promised to explain, but he's not here.

"Perhaps we shouldn't be here then?" Jeongin asked, "I mean, that sounds pretty awful. Surely he doesn't want us to know?"

"Nope. You have to know." Seungmin simply replied, "I actually got curious and decided to search that a bit, and guess what?"

"You found the answer?" Hyunjin asked. Seungmin shook his head, "Wrong. I didn't find what I wanted to, but I found something way more serious. But since telling you guys right now would probably freak you out, I am letting hyung tell you."

And right then, Seungmin's tablet lit up.

_Seungmin, are you friends here? If they are here, bring them together with you to the library. -Woojin_

"Answer time probably," Seungmin said. "Come on guys, let's go."


	7. Seo Changbin

"Before your friend and his brother arrive, can you tell us more about him?" Woojin asked Changbin. "Or, you can tell us about yourself. We barely know you either."

"Yeah," Chan responded quitely - he's still stunned from the information he just got, "I didn't know much about you either. You are so quiet in school."

"Since I am a good friend who protect others' privacy, I'm going for the latter," Changbin said. "So. Where do I start?"

"Just you like," Woojin said, "Hmm. Maybe how did you end up as a runaway?"

"Alright then," Changbin took a deep breath, "It's a long story."

_~Changbin monologue~_

I was raised normally as a normal child, with perfectly normal parents. They took good care of me, and they always responded to my requests. Honestly, nothing would have happened if not for my parents' jobs - my dad is a pilot, and my mum is an attorney.

Well - their job was not the problem either.

The problem is, dad took the task as a mentor to train teenagers as a pilot. Then - the pilot crashed one day. My dad wasn't even his mentor by that time, but the fucking authorities believed that it was his fault that the pilot wasn't "well-trained". He was executed along with the poor pilot.

My mum, of course, was furious. She wasn't supposed to, really, but she was. She tried to reason with the authorities, yet she's not in the court, and we don't have any system to charge the authorities. She got jailed. I was 14 by that time, so to be honest I am okay to live independently, but I am totally not okay with my parents being punished unreasonably.

I suppose I shouldn't feel angry with that, because none of my relatives seemed to care. So I put on an act as well. 

Luckily that I chose computer and engineering as my career, I managed to hack into deeper parts of our society's systems and found out some of the ugly truth - how our city is actually unfair as fuck. How numerous of people are unjustly punished. How they tried to manipulate us. Now I just want to leave this hellhole.

~

"Changbin, you are so awesome," Minho said.

"When did you arrive?" Changbin asked, the newcomer just pulled a Cheshire grin.

"Not important. So maybe I should introduce myself? I am Lee Minho, and this cute boy," He pulled a shorter boy in, "is Felix. My brother."


	8. Lee Felix

"Hyung," 7-year-old Felix asked, "Why we didn't have the same surname as Sungie?"

"Oh," Minho blinked, "Took you long enough to notice. Long story short, we are adopted."

"Can I have the long story?"

"I am not entirely sure what exactly happened either," Minho replied, "All I can tell you is that dad cheated on my mum with your mum. Then they never came back and my mun adopted you. But she still wanted you away after a few years, and since I refused to leave you behind, she chased me away as well. I knocked on every door until Jisung's family accepted us."

"So we are only...half-brothers? We were...thrown away?" 

"Yeah, but I - wait shit. Lix? Are you crying?"

Felix couldn't feel his breathing, until Minho's warm arms wrapped gently around him and he saw Mr. (Dr.) Han's concerned eyes.

"Minho told you?" He asked. Minho answered dryly, "He deserved to know. We couldn't hide this from him forever, and this past will be following us for our life."

"He's still young - "

"It doesn't matter. He is bound to know about this." Minho retorted. His voice was a little shaky but very firm. Mr. Han sighed.

"You're right. I am sorry. He's your only blood-related family. You know what's the best for him."

▪

"Oh, it's the dumb mute again!" The strong brunette laughed, and his friends all laugh. Felix whined silently when the bully snatched his book.

The main reason they called him mute. Felix seldom speak to the others, knowing that his efforts and futile. And of course m, he never fight back when he got teased.

"Pretending you're so hardworking? C'mon! We all know you're a filthy kid! Just like your prostitute mum!" He laughed again, and Felix hissed at his loud volume.

"Can you give it back to me? Please?"

"Hmm. If you beg on your knees and bow for 10 minutes, I would consider -"

"Fuck. Off. From. My. Brother." Minho growled.

"Ah - Minho!" The brunette dropped the book immediately, "How do you do? I was just -"

"Give up," Minho snickered, "I saw what you did. Trying to act all nice in front of me after shitting on my brother? You're dead to me. You losers are no different from the adults."

"Why are you so protective over him anyways? His mum made your dad betrayed your mum-"

"So what? Why do you know so much anyways? It's none of your fucking business. Lix is the sweetest person I've known and I love him as a reponsible brother," Minho snatched his underling and punched him hard on his face, "Next time I see you, you will be the one bleeding because of my fist. Get the fuck away."

"Hyung..." Felix sobbed, "Why does everyone hate me so much?"

"They are just envious of how you are sweet and you have a protective brother," Minho smiled, ruffled his hair and kissed him on his forehead, "Plus, your brother is as sweet as you. Always stay with me when possible, okay? I'm not gonna let anyway lay a finger on you."

~

Felix wanted to trust these new people, but he can only recognize Changbin (who is often frowning, somehow). So he remained behind Minho.

"Lix, it's fine," Minho whispered gently, "I'm right here."

"Hyung," Felix mumbled, "I'm nervous."

"Don't worry, hyung will back you up if anything happens." Minho smiled - just like how he did it when he got bullied for the first time, and it gave Felix so much comfort. He nodded, and walked a bit upfront.

"Uh, hi, I'm Felix."

"Hello, Felix," a silver-bluish haired, pale-skinned boy smiled warmly, "I'm Bang Chan."

"So you're Woojin?" Minho asked the tallest boy in sight. He nodded, "Yes. I did say we discuss it once you're here, but I just called a few more people because it's my cousin's birthday and I promised him that I will explain this to him and his friends. Do you mind it?"

"Well, if I were to be completely honest I do mind a bit, because I am a little concerned about how they will react." Minho replied.

"We never know," Changbin replied, "But I guess we have no choice but to trust our luck."


	9. Not Myself

"Woojin hyung - " Seungmin stopped when he saw so many people. "What...?"

"Hi," Woojin greeted him. "Sorry, you must be startled. Please sit down. They are kind of related to what I need to explain to you."

"Of course..." Seungmin replied slowly and exchanged glances with Hyunjin and Jeongin. Hyunjin looked skeptical while Jeongin just seemed curious.

"Okay..." Woojin exhaled, "So, you saw that file titled 'Human Experiment Record - Failures and Analysis', right?"

Seungmin nodded. Chan gasped.

"Not all of the humans in our city are born naturally. Some of us are actually manufactured. I found that out because your parents' deaths are so unnatural." Woojin said, "Did you see how they died?"

"I don't think so. I was too little back then." Seungmin replied.

"Your dad looked like robots running out of battery. Your mum - how do I explain it? She suddenly bleed to death when her health records are completely perfect and there weren't any poison or harmful chemicals detected." Woojin continued, "What's more, their bodies were discarded so quickly. Mum said they couldn't even have a small funeral, save for a proper one."

Seungmin remained silent, while Hyunjin challenged, "Why are you keeping it to yourself for so long? And why are you leaving Seungmin alone so frequently? You're supposed to be his subsitute parent!"

"Hey..." Changbin interrupted, "You think this is something that can be told casually? I am not talking about how it is a dark past - it's something that we are forbidden to talk about."

"Say," Minho said, "What about we tell you how corrupted this place is?"

"What do you mean by corrupted?" Jeongin asked.

"They say this place is the best place anyone would ask for," Felix finally talked, "But in reality it's really not. We are all manipulated in some ways - we are not ourselves."


	10. Han Jisung

"Why isn't he replying?" Jisung mumbled. 

Not living far away from the borders, Jisung also heard the crash, so he decided to message the Lee brothers to see if they're fine. But he didn't get any response.

"Ugh," He groaned, taking out his holograph. 

Jisung was an observer under training. An observer was a person who check out on the city, to see if there're any injuries, crimes, accidents, etc, and they had full access to the city's scanners and monitors all the time.

It's not his shift, but he guessed he could get his job done by checking on the scale of the crash.

That reminded him of how weird his trainers were. There's one time when he was checking on an alley, when his instructor told him to zoom in a person.

Jisung did what he was told, yet couldn't pin-point what he had done wrongly.

"Zoom in the book," His instructor said.

And so he did.

"That book was forbidden," The man said, "How did he even got that?"

"Sir," Jisung asked, "How do I know if it' forbidden?"

"You can tell from its title," He said, "Only instruction books and manuals are allowed. You still have to send the image to the careers department to see if they are reading what they need to know."

"Okay, sir," Jisung nodded. But he didn't quite understand. Yes, he was told that he should only focus on his own job, but Felix often managed to stuff some books called "fiction" to him, and Jisung found them interesting. It wouldn't hurt to read some, right?

Although Jisung was dumb (according to Minho), he was smart enough to know he shouldn't ask.

Shaking the memory out of his head, he looked at the holograph, and relieved to see that the crash was very small, so no damage was done to apartments.

Except...the glass capsule seemed to be broken.

Wait.

Glass capsule?

Jisung frowned. He had never heard of that before. Maybe he should tell his instructor? But then, it's not his shift, and he didn't know if it's okay to tell.

Fuck it, he decided, and tapped on his watch.

"Jisung?" Instructor groaned, "What did I say about calling me after training sessions?"

"Sorry, sir..." Jisung said, "Uh, I heard a crash near the borders so I checked..."

"And then? Any injuries?"

"I don't think so..." Jisung bit his lips, "But a piece of glass broke from the sky."

"WHAT?" The instructor stood up suddenly, startling poor Jisung, "MY GOD. I AM CALLING THE CONSTRUCTION TEAM - "

Jisung ended the call. He could apologize to him the next day - he didn't want to become deaf.

His watch signaled him that someone called, and surprisingly he saw Minho.

"My god, you scared me."

"I thought Lix and I are the only ones who hated phone calls?" Minho cocked his eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, I just shut off a call right in front of my trainer's face, so I thought he'd yell at me." Jisung confessed, "And yeah, you never responded to my messages. I thought you died in the crash or something."

"Oh, so you heard that. Perfect. Come to the library."

"Huh?"

"Just do what I say."

"Okay?" Jisung questioned his friend's sanity for the  unteempth time. He really liked his friend (but he liked Felix more), but there were numerous of times that he thought their past might have broke something inside Minho's brain.

Though he wasn't completely ignorant either.

He knew how others treated Felix like shit, and that's not only their classmates and fellow trainees either - adults too. He noticed how adults, including his parents, seemed to lack empathy. He also wondered quite oftenly why the hell they were not allowed to leave the place. Those pilots - they were only trained to fly within the city. He found it stupid, honestly.

Perhaps Felix and Minho also knew these, Jisung suspected.

Little did he know they were much more than that.


	11. Ready

"So you mean, you planned on breaking away from this place long ago?" Jeongin asked Woojin. The older nodded. "Even if we don't voluntarily leave, we might be executed sooner or later -"

"No!" Seungmin hissed, "Don't say things like that. I don't know about others, but I will definitely support you."

"You do know it's dangerous, right?" Minho suddenly interrupted. "It's actually a miracle no one reported about me, really. I am a huge outcast in terms of behaviour." 

"They obviously like you because of your disgustingly pretty face," Changbin pointed out. Hyunjin laughed as Minho glared at the shortest boy.

"Actually, shouldn't we properly introduce ourselves?" Chan asked quietly, "We barely know one another."

"Wait for a little bit longer, I told a friend to come. He should be here by any second." Minho dismissed.

The door banged loudly.

"Anyone here?"

"Coming!" Felix stood up immediately upon hearing the voice when Woojin and Changbin were visably alarmed. So the others assume it's probably Minho's "friend" he's talking about.

"Took you long enough, Min - Wow. Are you guys throwing a party?" The young-looking boy widen his eyes in surprise.

~

"Alright, now that we won't have any more people joining, let's introduce ourselves as you say," Woojin addressed to Chan, "I'll start first. My name is Kim Woojin, 19 years old, and obviously I am a library assistant who took advantage of his job, and I know a bit of hacking."

"Um, I am Bang Chan, 18, and currently undergoing last training of engineering." Chan said, still not quite used to being part of a runaway plan.

"Seo Changbin, same year and status as Chan and Woojin hyung." 

"Lee Minho, also same year as those two but training as an editor. Hate it." Minho said, "And also, Felix's protective brother."

"And that's...me." Felix said, "Training as a necessities manufacturer. 16."

"I am 16 too," Jisung didn't hesitate a bit to introduce himself despite being the last to the party, "I am Han Jisung, these two guys' best friend. Training as an observer."

"Seungmin, 16, training as illustrator." Seungmin pointed at Woojin, "My cousin."

"I am Yang Jeongin and same age as Seungmin, and training to be messenger."

"...Hwang Hyunjin, also 16 and...soldier trainee."

"So we are nearly all specialized in different fields. Great." Changbin promptly declared. "So, let's talk about why we should leave this hell hole."

~

"So, let me summarize," Jeongin said, trying to sort out all the information received, "First, we cannot really be ourselves despite they tell us that we are different, because indeed we have different careers waiting for us. Second thing is thing is that we are actually under surveillance so we don't have freedom - which I don't really understand why it is so important. Lastly, this place is actually poorly maintained. Am I missing anything?"

"Basically speaking, yes." Woojin replied, "Those things you don't know why it's important - you'll know once we leave this place."

"I want to go," Chan said, "I want to see if the rain, clouds, snow, rainbows are real."

"I don't really mind living here, to be honest," Jisung said, "But if Minho hyung and Felix wants to leave so badly, I am in."

"Me too, like I said, I am always supporting Woojin hyung." Seungmin raised his hand.

"If you go, then so do I," Jeongin said. "Hyunjin?"

"I guess I don't have any choice but to go with you." Hyunjin shurgged, "And I...actually don't want to be trained for fighting."

"That's important for you to embrace this thought," Changbin said contently. "So we are all in. Here's what I gathered. Actually, I saw a vehicle dissembling centre near the fields, but there's one bus which is fairly intact. We can use that to break the glass now that we know it's so fragile."

"I know how to drive," Woojin said, Changbin gave him a thumbs up.

"Once we break it, where do we go?" Chan asked.

"I know that there's one particular road which lead to the actual exit, which is a long tunnel." Changbin said, "Once we arrived at there, they can't do anything about it because that tunnel is neutral grounds and not only we can go there."

"So, simply speaking, we will leave the capsule, then enter the tunnel, then?" Minho asked.

"I actually saw an unoccupied empty land after exiting the tunnel. We can go there to see what we can do." Woojin said. "It's really empty, so before we get on the bus we will need to gather everything we want."

"When do we gather again?" Jisung asked enthusiastically.

"How about three days later, midnight, at the dissembling centre?" Changbin suggested, "I will send you the address later."

Others nodded in agreement. Chan said, "Guess what, we are becoming stray kids."

"That is a terrible joke, Chan," Changbin deadpanned.


	12. Hwang Hyunjin

"You're early," Hyunjin arrived at the vehicle dissembling centre only to find Minho already there.

"You're not so late yourself," Minho replied. "Feel free to sit - there's time."

"I am fine with that." Hyunjin declined, and noticed that Felix was nowhere to be found. "Where's your brother?"

"Lix? He's in the washroom. Need him?"

"No, just wondering. You two seem inseparable so..."

"Figured," Minho hummed, "Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Depends," Hyunjin looked at him confusedly. "What do you want to ask?"

"Like, why you always seem so anxious."

"Oh, that." Hyunjin sighed. "Because I  _am_  nervous as hell. I mean, you all have existential crisis of some sorts, but me? I have a fairly nice family with loving parents. Though I would like to stay with my friends, I still care about their feelings. What will they think if I leave suddenly?"

Minho hummed. "Can't help you with that. My mum kicked me out. Anymore?"

"Then there's my training. I am training as a  _soldier_  of all things. Can't say I enjoy it a lot, but I don't hate it either. Plus, we are leaving because we are rebelling, right?"

"Can be counted as this, yeah."

"Yeah. I mean, I am raised to protect the government, but now I am going against them. I am so conflicted."

Minho hummed again. "I see. So you're conflicting between your own desires and your responsibilities."

"Pretty much."

"I guess so." Minho looked at him with eyes telling Hyunjin not to lie to anyone including himself, "Tell me. Do you want to follow your own wishes or be treated as a robot?"

"I guess I...want to live my own life."

"Cool." Minho smiled, and Hyunjin believed that this was the first time he'd ever seen Minho with a genuine smile, not the evil or scheming smirk he usually wore. "At least you admit it. I can assure you that you can be yourself once we get out of here."

"Really?"

"Hundred percent."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double updates!  
> We are approaching the end of I Am NOT!


	13. Free

"Good, we're all here," Woojin waited as Jisung finally arrived and announced. "Changbin, where's that bus you mentioned?"

"Round the corner." Changbin replied and started moving. "Follow me."

The group followed him, made a few turns around all the stacked metal pile and finally, they saw the bus.

"Whoa, it's intact!" Jeongin whispered in atonishment. "I've never actually seen one up-close and non-moving."

"You never?" Minho questioned. Jeongin nodded innocently, "I don't get many opportunities to get in touch with large vehicles."

"Hush, we're getting on it." Woojin hissed.

 The boys hopped on the coach. Jisung exclaimed, "Whoa, it's more spacious than I thought."

"Yeah..." Changbin said, "I think they already took out most of the seats."

"We can chat later," Minho said, "Woojin hyung, you're driving, right?"

The oldest boy nodded, before Chan finally placed his backpack down. "Guys, I think it' better if we put these on."

Felix took out the contents inside the bag, "Clothes! That's smart! I guess it really is better if we can get rid of this stupid white uniform."

"You're right. Let's change first."

~

"You know, guys, I am actually nervous." Minho said when they decided to take their time to eat some snacks that Chan sneaked from home, as they already drove through the glass capsule by crashing it. "Although I have confidence in ourselves, I am still worried. We can't afford to fail - we will be doomed if we do."

"I trust you guys," Jeongin chimed, "To be honest, I always wonder what is it to be outside our home...it's just that the idea of leaving permanently never crossed my mind. Now that you suggested it, I am really excited. I am fed up with the people here anyways."

Seungmin nodded in agreement. 

"I am glad that you think so." Felix said. Minho turned to him and relieved to see that Felix let out the most relaxed smile since forever.

"Guys, we are already almost there!" Changbin yelled.

"What? That's quick!" Hyunjin exclaimed, and Changbin nodded, "Surprise. As soon as we leave the main zone, I found a shortcut."

"Wow! Can't believe we are actually leaving!" Jisung jumped out from his seat.

Another 2 minutes ride and Woojin stopped the coach, and they all left the bus.

"Is this the tunnel? The tunnel we are going to?" Seungmin asked, and Changbin nodded. "Exactly, once we step foot in there, we are free."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the final chapter!  
> But of course, as you can see, the series is not ending in near future. Stay tuned for I Am WHO!


	14. Second Stage!

The [second](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17588111/chapters/41455730) part is out!

Please feel free to check it out if you love the series so far<3

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: @NekomuraTsukiyo  
> Youtube: Nekomura Tsukiyo  
> Tumblr: @nekomura-tsukiyo  
> Wattpad: @NekomuraTsukiyo  
> Wtt backup account: @MoonNight912


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